Books over Topics
I prefer to preach through books of the Bible rather than individual topics for several reasons, one of which is the way God steers us to appropriate passages each Sunday. We arrived at Romans 13, the most politically themed passage in Romans, the Sunday before the 2012 election. Once again, God shows himself sovereign even in my stubborn preference for preaching through books!
Romans 13:1-7
This is a problem passage. Some say it’s been universally misunderstood by modern Christians. Some say Paul didn’t write it at all. Some say translators purposefully mistranslated it to benefit the ruling class. Some have used it to justify tyranny. Verse one sums up the passage’s main point:
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
A handful of objections emerge right away. Which authorities? Surely Paul does not mean that God institutes all human authorities, including evil ones. Perhaps he means spiritual authorities, as in Ephesians 6:12. Or perhaps he means only the good human authorities.
Let’s examine these two objections in turn.
Objection One: Paul can’t mean human authorities, because so many human authorities are bad.
This objection dissolves quickly. I believe Paul is talking about human authorities for at least four reasons.
- While Paul does use the word ‘authorities’ in reference to spiritual forces, he (along with the rest of Scripture) uses it in reference human rulers too.
- Spiritual authorities are not authorized to punish bad behavior or reward good.
- Christians are not supposed to subject themselves to spiritual authorities.
- The context of these verses clearly points to human government (judicial punishment, taxes, etc.)
Objection Two: Paul can’t mean all human authorities, because so many are bad.
This objection has more meat on it. It opens up a major vein in Scripture that will occupy our thought for the rest of this post and at least one more. Before digging in, let’s put the objection in its starkest terms by inserting the most notoriously evil governmental authority in recent memory: Hitler.
Let every person be subject to Hitler. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists Hitler resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
My Take
In case you have no time or patience for the hard work it will take to understand this passage, here’s what I think: I believe it means exactly what it says. Christians are to be subject to their human governing authorities because God put them there. Yes, even Hitler (up to a point). There are clear exceptions to this rule; but here Paul is not concerned with the exceptions, only the rule. Generally, Christians are to submit to human authorities because they are appointed by God, even the really bad ones. Four reasons for this conclusion:
- It’s what Paul says. We can’t reshape Scripture into something we’re more comfortable with. We must let it reshape us.
- The historical context of Romans. Paul is writing to a people prone to rebellion in a time ripe for rebellion.
- The Scriptural context of this passage. Paul just finished saying that God is sovereign over everything and works everything together for our good, even bad things (such as evil governing authorities)
- The Bible as a whole.
Rules and Exceptions
We’ll spend the bulk of our time working through the Bible as a whole. But first, we need to think about rules and exceptions. When my children disobey, I tell them the rule: “You must obey your father.” I don’t go into all the exceptions. I don’t say, “You must obey your father, unless he tells you to do something that contradicts something your mother has already told you to do” or “unless he has suffered head trauma and is ordering you to do something odd or dangerous.” Typically, caring instruction majors on the rules and minors on the exceptions.
We don’t know for sure; but it’s reasonable to suspect that Paul leaves out a list of exceptions because the Roman church was prone to breaking the rule. Around 49 A.D., the Jews were kicked out of Rome for their rebellious tendencies. They were allowed back in around 54 A.D. Paul wrote Romans around 55 A.D. And the historians tell us that in the next few years Rome was experienced widespread complaints regarding tax corruption. Into this situation Paul shouts, “Christians (including believing Jews), be subject to your governing authorities!”
With this in mind, let’s get moving into the Bible to find clues to help us sort out how God could tell us to be subject to human authroties — even bad ones. If you have time, it will help you to go read these passages for yourself. Click on the headings to read them online.
Exodus 1:15-21 God’s authority trumps human authority.
Here we see an exception to the rule. If a ruler orders you to kill babies, you may refuse. The midwives are rewarded for doing so because they feared the Lord over Pharaoh.
Exodus 9:16 God sometimes brings about bad things through human authorities for his glory.
God allowed his people to be enslaved for over 400 years under the Egyptian Pharaohs’ rule. Here we see that God raised these rulers up to show his power and cause his name to be proclaimed in all the earth. Sometimes, evil rulers are in place for centuries – and God not only allows it, he brings it about.
1 Kings 12:14-15 God sometimes brings about bad things through human authorities to fulfill his word.
God’s people are once again oppressed under an evil ruler and we see that “it was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord.” In this case, God appointed evil rulers to fulfill his word.
Psalm 2 God is amused by the vain plotting of nations.
While the nations and their rulers rage and plot, God laughs. He is in total control.
Jeremiah 27:5-8 God owns and distributes all authority.
To Nebuchadnezzar, another ruler oppressing God’s people, God says, “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth… and I give it to whomever it seems right to me.” He then describes exactly how things will go for Neb. and calls him his servant.
Jeremiah 29:4-7 God’s people are to seek the welfare of whatever “city” they’re in.
Here God speaks to his people, who have been exiled into an enemy land. He does not tell them to overthrow their oppressors. He tells them to build houses, plant gardens, take wives, grow their families and “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
Daniel Again, God’s authority trumps human authority. And God is the Authority of authorities.
While in exile, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego served their oppressive rulers as far as they could until they were ordered to bow and worship a giant golden statue. Since God had directly ordered them never to worship an idol, they couldn’t submit to the king’s order. So they respectfully refused and accepted their consequences (the fiery furnace).
Daniel’s story is similar. He served his oppressive king as far as he could until he was ordered to stop praying. Since this command contradicted his higher authority (God), he respectfully refused and accepted the consequences (the lion’s den).
Note that throughout these stories we see undeniable statements of God’s sovereignty over the rulers who were tossing his people into furnaces and lions dens.
- God gave Jehoiakim into Nebuchadnezzar’s hand. (1:2)
- God removes kings and sets up kings. (2:21)
- God gave Nebuchadnezzar the kingdom, power, might and glory. (2:37; 5:18)
- God will set up an indestructible, everlasting Kingdom that will shatter all other kingdoms. (2:44) (This point will be very important as we round out this study, so keep it in mind.)
- God is “Lord of kings.” (2:47)
- God’s kingdom is everlasting and his dominion endures from generation to generation. (4:3, 34-35; 6:26)
- God rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. (4:25; 5:21)
- God holds the king’s breath in his hand. (5:23)
- God numbered the days of this kingdom and brought it to an end when he was ready (5:26).
Bottom Line
During this brief walk through the Old Testament (which leaves out more than it includes), we see that even during centuries of slavery and exile, God’s people subject themselves to human governing authorities with few exceptions. They do so, not because those governing authorities are right or good, but because God is sovereign.
To be continued…
This Sunday we’ll proceed into the New Testament, looking at Jesus, the early church, Paul, Peter and John’s examples and teaching regarding the Kingdom and kingdoms – which I hope will clarify things quite a bit.
In the meantime, during this election week, worship God by being subject to the governing authorities.
Discussion Starters
- Take some time to catch up with one another.
- Why must Christians submit to governing authorities?
- What does this type of Christian subjection look like in America, as compared to other governments?
- What challenges do we face in worshipping this way? What can we do to overcome them?
- Based on the passages we covered in the Old Testament, what situations warrant Christian resistance to governmental authority?
- What forms of resistance are appropriate for Christians? Why?
- Take some time to pray together for our nation and our leaders.
